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UN Judge Under Arrest in Turkey

November 09, 2016 2:38 PM

VOA News

Demonstrators protest against a purge of thousands of education staff since an attempted coup in July, in front of the Istanbul University, Nov 3, 2016. On Wednesday, it was announced that Turkish judge Aydin Sedaf Akay has been in detention since September for his alleged connection to the failed coup.

A Turkish judge for a U.N. war crimes panel has been arrested in Turkey in connection with the failed coup in July, in violation of his diplomatic immunity.

The president of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, Theodor Meron, said Judge Aydin Sedaf Akay was detained in September “in relation to allegations connected to the events of July 2016 directed against the constitutional order of Turkey.”

Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly, Meron added Turkey had refused his requests to visit Akay and called for his immediate release.

The court tries crimes from the Yugoslav wars and the Rwandan genocide.

More than 30,000 people have been arrested since July in connection with the failed coup, most of them from the military, the education system and the judiciary.